Labor Department Confirms No Jobs Report Friday

The September jobs report won’t be released as scheduled Friday due to the federal government’s shutdown, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Getty Images

The department is definitively ruling out that the report could be released Friday under any circumstance, including if lawmakers strike a deal Thursday.

“Due to the lapse in funding, the Employment Situation release which provides data on employment during the month of September… will not be issued as scheduled on Friday,” the department said in a press release. “An alternative release date has not been scheduled.”

Earlier Thursday, department spokesman Stephen Barr said he was unsure how quickly the jobs report, and any other data subsequently not released, could be prepared.

“It’s all about timing,” he said.

The statement puts to rest the possibility that some version of the report could be released this week. Previously, the Labor Department didn’t rule out a release if the shutdown ended before Friday morning.

And the prospect of special release, even in the event of a shutdown, was raised in a memo Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erica Groshen sent to her superiors last month. That possibility has also been extinguished.

That memo referenced the publishing of the consumer price index report after the government shut down in 1995. The reason cited at the time: “the risk of disclosure” of data during a shutdown was deemed to be “unacceptable.”

The Labor Department on Thursday released its weekly report on jobless claims. Those data are largely collected by state agencies. Other economic reports from the statistical agencies within the Labor and Commerce departments won’t be released during a shutdown.

About Real Time Economics

Real Time Economics offers exclusive news, analysis and commentary on the U.S. and global economy, central bank policy and economics. Send news items, comments and questions to the editors and reporters below or email realtimeeconomics@wsj.com.